Work it out, Mama
In “Peter’s Principles,” a seventh-season “Dallas” episode, Donna (Susan Howard) sits on a weight bench and does leg lifts in the Southfork fitness room while Miss Ellie (Barbara Bel Geddes) peddles on the exercise bike.
DONNA: I knew there was something missing.
ELLIE: What’s that?
DONNA: [Chuckles] Your engagement ring. You’re not wearing it.
ELLIE: Well, I thought I was going to do some gardening later, so I left it upstairs.
DONNA: Shoot, I don’t know. I think I’d rather give up gardening than take a rock like that off my finger.
ELLIE: [Chuckles] It is beautiful, isn’t it?
DONNA: Yes, it is. You know what? I am so excited about the prospects of you and Clayton getting married. You know, you really make a gorgeous couple.
ELLIE: [Sighs, stops peddling] Donna, I keep thinking I’m rushing things.
DONNA: Well, I don’t know how you figure that. I mean, you’ve been seeing each other for over a year and you have been together constantly for the past couple of months.
ELLIE: I know.
DONNA: And you obviously get along very well.
ELLIE: Clayton’s a wonderful man.
DONNA: What’s the matter, Miss Ellie?
ELLIE: I’m not sure. The problems we left behind when we went on our trip are very near now.
DONNA: Well, I can’t imagine there being a problem in the whole wide world that you and Clayton couldn’t work out together.
ELLIE: Well, there’s the problem of where we live. And, when Clayton and I marry, he doesn’t just get me, he gets the whole family.
DONNA: You mean your sons — J.R. in particular. [She lies on her belly and begins doing leg lifts]
ELLIE: [Smiles] Yes.
DONNA: Well, I have to tell you, if there’s anybody that can handle J.R., it’s Clayton Farlow.
ELLIE: Maybe.
DONNA: [Stops exercising] Miss Ellie, is there something else that you’re not telling me?
ELLIE: [Glances down] Not really. It’s just that when Clayton and I were away, even though we saw each other every day, we never had any real physical contact. You know, beyond a kiss and a hug.
DONNA: Yes, ma’am. I understand.
ELLIE: There’s been no one since Jock.
DONNA: [Nods] Miss Ellie, Clayton is a very understanding man. And whatever it is, I know you can work it out.
Dallas Decoder 
This is absolutely one of my favorite scenes in the series. It uses its improbable setting — I mean, come on, the Southfork ranch house in the mid-80s would not have an exercise room — to allow these characters to scrap the make-up and clothes (as these characters often do) and have a real, relatable conversation. The script for this scene works crisply and beautifully (glad you print it out here!), but only because the actors are pitch-perfect in their delivery of grounded, contemplative women. It was scenes like this that endeared me to Dallas as much as its audacious bigness, flair, and dramatic underscore, all of which I loved of course.
I like this scene, too!